Thor has been portrayed by Chris Hemsworth ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe's
first installment centering on the God of Thunder.
The role launched the Aussie native into international superstardom, but there was a time when his
wife was even more famous than him.
Here's the truth about Elsa Pataky.
Two action heroes
While Hemsworth is best known for his work within the MCU, Pataky once starred in a multi-billion-dollar,
action film franchise of her own.
Between 2011 and 2017, the actress played Elena opposite Vin Diesel's Dom in The Fast
and the Furious series.
The long-running role served as her most popular gig to date, but, after portraying the patrol
officer character in four flicks, Pataky's on-screen alter ego was shockingly killed
during a kidnapping in The Fate of the Furious.
Pataky told The Hollywood Reporter at the time,
"I think all stories have to have a beginning and an end, and it was a long trip for this
character...The relationship with Dom and her job were really interesting.
They were in love, but…it was a beautiful way to end it.
Very dramatic and very sad."
Calling the experience itself "special," the movie star added that The Fast and the Furious
crew felt, quote, "like a family" to her, and even went on to tease Elena's possible
resurrection, saying,
"You didn't see Elena die, so you never know.
In this franchise, there are characters you think are dead, and they come back.
So there's always hope.
We'll see."
Whirlwind romance
After meeting through a mutual dialect coach in early 2010, Pataky and Hemsworth got engaged
just nine months later and married that December, according to People magazine.
Over the next three years, the couple would welcome three children.
During those early years, their whirlwind romance and decision to expand their brood
coincided with Hemsworth being thrust into the international spotlight alongside his
Marvel counterpart Thor.
The quick succession of this personal and professional combination understandably put
a strain on their relationship.
Pataky later admitted to Vogue Australia in 2018,
"We did everything very quickly, I don't know how we survived as a couple.
It puts a lot of pressure on a marriage, but we came out good because there is a lot of
love between us and we are very strong personalities but love each other so much.
We make it work."
Of their marital success, the model-actress went on to say that their years together have
been "great," adding,
"Every marriage has ups and downs, it's constant work to be in a successful marriage and stay
together forever."
Tattooing her fate
Years before she would meet her husband, a 15-year-old Elsa Pataky got a Thor symbol
tattooed on her arm, according to Vogue Australia.
Of course, her future Aussie beau would go on to play the God of Thunder in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, and this strange coincidence has not been lost on the actress herself.
Pataky told the media outlet in 2018,
"Yes, it's about Thor and I ended up marrying who plays Thor!"
On whether the Madrid-born star unknowingly tattooed her marital fate, she admitted,
"It is shocking how things in life [turn out].
I just liked that [symbol] and the legend he had was so beautiful and I wanted to keep
it."
Throughout their relationship, tattoos have continued to hold special meaning for Pataky
and Hemsworth, who share matching tats on their arms.
They both reportedly have the initials of their first names, followed by the initials
of their children's first names, using the Runic alphabet.
When translated, their arms feature the ink "C," "E," "I," "T," and "S," which presumably
stand for Chris, Elsa, India, Tristan, and Sasha.
Acting hiatus
As Hemsworth skyrocketed into superstardom, Pataky largely put her own acting prospects
on the back burner in order to support her husband's career and to raise their kiddos
at home, according to GQ.
However, she was more than happy to make this professional sacrifice for the sake of her
loved ones.
Pataky told El País in 2014,
"I've followed my ambitions and I have worked where I've been able to, but since 2012 my
energy has gone practically 100 percent into my family...Unlike other women I am lucky
enough to be able to be with my children 24 hours a day and I don't want to waste even
a second."
She went on to explain that in terms of levels of fame, she and Hemsworth essentially, quote,
"swapped roles" in the early 2010s.
She said,
"Now Chris is at a wonderful moment in his career and I am there to support him.
I feel very proud to be his wife.
I was Elsa Pataky for a long time and I don't mind being Mrs. Chris Hemsworth, although
that does sound a bit old-fashioned."
However, when Hemsworth has breaks in projects and she's able to go off and work, he knows
exactly where he needs to be.
"I'm shooting this show now for Netflix, so this is the time I say 'Okay you stay with
the kids."
Life Down Under
With growing fame comes heightened media attention, and the Pataky-Hemsworth clan understandably
grew tired of battling the prying cameras of the paparazzi in Los Angeles.
According to News Australia, the married pair decided to ditch the glitz and glamour of
Hollywood for a quieter life in the Marvel actor's native Australia, and settled their
family of five in a $9 million mega-mansion in Byron Bay in 2014.
Pataky told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2018,
"I'll never live in LA again.
We will travel back there for work when we need to, but I can't see myself living in
a city again...Growing up I was very happy in nature, with animals, and I dreamed of
living in a place where my kids can run around with no shoes on, surrounded by all kinds
of animals."
Since they've been able to raise their kids largely out of the spotlight, the couple's
children apparently don't realize their mom and dad are known around the world.
While speaking with Hola! in 2019, Pataky said,
"They think their parents are like the other parents, and that's what I think they have
to think all their lives.
That their parents maybe appear in movies or on TV every once in a while, and for them
it's the most normal thing in the world, and they don't have to think there's a difference
at all."
Five languages
Pataky isn't just an actress-model-mother-wife extraordinaire, she also has an undeniable
knack for mastering languages.
According to the Daily Mail, she speaks fluently in her native Spanish, as well as English,
Italian, Romanian, and French.
Talk about impressive!
Pataky has since passed this multilingual talent on to her own kiddos, whom she speaks
to in both Spanish and English, while working hard to make sure they stay in touch with
their ancestry.
She told Hola! in 2019,
"[I do it] by surrounding them with Spaniards.
I have almost all my family here to speak to them in Spanish.
I try to educate them and tell them about typical Spanish dishes."
Pataky added that summer visits to Spain also serve to help her children, quote, "never
lose their roots."
While most members of the Pataky-Hemsworth household can speak more than one language,
the same can't be said for Chris Hemsworth.
Pataky quipped on the Today show in 2017,
"He promised me, he said, 'I'll be speaking Spanish in two months, there we go.'
We have been together for six years."
However, to the Marvel star's credit, his wife went on to say,
"He's improving, every year he knows one or two words more."
Marvel cameo
For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, and even on the big screen, Pataky has always
had her husband's back.
According to Hemsworth's 2017 interview with W magazine, his real-life love stepped in
to save the day when a scheduling conflict prevented actress Natalie Portman from reprising
her role as Thor's love interest, Jane Foster, in a reshoot for 2013's Thor: The Dark World.
After the director brought in multiple women as possible stand-ins for Portman, Hemsworth
had an even better solution.
"And I said, 'My wife's around the corner,' let's get her in.
And she's the same height, I won't have to explain to her what I've been doing at work
if I'm having to kiss someone else."
So the final kiss in the film is in fact Hemsworth and his wife.
Don't beat yourself up too much if you missed Pataky's impromptu and well-camouflaged Marvel
debut.
In addition to being the same height as Portman, she was clad in a Jane Foster wig and costume.
As Portman, who'd been busy filming another project at the time, previously quipped to
the New York Daily News,
"That's why [the kiss] was so passionate.
It was such a perfect solution, wasn't it?"
Diversity in Hollywood
With the [Hashtag Oscars So White] campaign still very much a part of the conversation
at the 2019 Academy Awards, it's not exactly a secret that Hollywood has a lot of work
to do when it comes to diversity and equality both on and off camera.
Luckily, there are celebs like Pataky who have long used their platform to publicly
put their own industry on blast when it comes to matters of gender and race.
In 2014, Pataky told El País that she and other Latina actresses had been, quote, "pigeonhole[d]"
into certain roles because of their accents, and claimed that showbiz was, quote, "very
cruel to women," particularly as they age.
Four years later, the actress expressed to Vogue Australia that she felt encouraged by
a slow but noticeable shift in Tinseltown's on-screen representation of women, different
accents, and a mix of races.
Citing Israeli actress Gal Gadot's triumphant turn in 2017 DC flick Wonder Woman as an intersectional
example, Pataky said,
"It just shows that women have to be equal in every way, and why not?
People are not just interested in a lead guy, they want to see stories from women.
There have been amazing women in life, strong women who have obstacles in life but keep
going…interesting stories about women."
Going strong
Pataky and Hemsworth had been working in the same industry long before they became an item
in 2010, but they didn't team up on the big screen until the 2018 action movie 12 Strong,
in which they naturally played husband and wife Mitch and Jean Nelson.
While the wartime drama unfortunately failed to be a smash hit, grossing a respectable
$67.4 million worldwide, but scoring a relatively low critical rating, the duo's on-screen chemistry
was undeniable.
Hemsworth quipped to the Independent at the time,
"I felt like we've been rehearsing more than seven years for this part.
We joked while we were filming, 'If we don't have any on-camera chemistry in this movie
then we're in trouble.'"
For her part, Pataky admitted to Hola! that taking on these roles meant breaking the couple's
Number One rule: filming their respective projects at different times in order to maintain
a stable home life for their children.
However, she added,
"[It was] not a long time away.
I thought it was a good experience for both of us to have, doing what we love and what
we are passionate about."
"Yeah, it was nice to work together, it was like a holiday for us because we left the
kids for a week and we just enjoyed, like, doing the scenes together."
Who doesn't love seeing their favorite Hollywood power couples collaborate?
Here's hoping this married pair will continue to join forces on screen in the future!
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